SCOTUS upholds most of map, but not CD23

The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld almost all of Texas’ Republican-friendly U.S. House election district map.

By a 5-4 vote, the court said the 23rd District in Southwest Texas, represented by Republican Henry Bonilla, was unconstitutional because its design violated the rights of some Hispanic voters. Reshaping the district, a task that apparently now is assigned to federal court in Texas, would force a change in at least one other neighboring district.

But the high court ruling preserved the other districts in the Houston area and elsewhere that were created by the Texas Legislature in 2003. This includes a Dallas-area district whose constitutionality was challenged by black voters.

The Supreme Court today also upheld the right of states to change their congressional district boundaries more frequently than the traditional every 10 years following each U.S. Census.

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State Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, a member of the House Redistricting Committee, said he believes the only way to fix the map is to put Laredo in one congressional district. The Republicans had split it between Bonilla’s 23rd District and Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s 28th District.

For better or worse, that’s more or less what I expected. At this point, I don’t know what the next step is, but I do expect that Rep. Henry Cuellar will have to make a decision about where he’ll run next. My initial take is here. I’ll have more to say after I have a better idea of what happens from here.

The three-judge panel will have the responsibility of deciding what to do with the redistricting map. The first decision is when they redraw the map for — this election cycle, or the next. The second decision, then, is whether they will redraw the map themselves, and accept three maps from both Democrats and Republicans, OR whether they kick it back to the Texas Legislature for them to redraw the lines during the 80th Regular Session starting in January.

Exactly how far the dominoes fall, we’ll have to wait and see. I’d imagine that CD 23, 28, 21, and 25 will have to be redrawn. As we wait to get more analysis, you can play around with an interactive Congressional map of Texas. Click on the “U.S. Congressional Districts” link to get to the map.

3 Responses

I’m sure this has come up in previous discussion but it always springs to mind when SCOTUS dictates internal operations to a state. Where are states rights in this? How is this covered under common welfare, mutual defense, regulation of commerce, etc.? Obviously I’m arguing for limited federal powers.

The other troubling aspect is how this would appear to tread on separation of powers. The judicial branch just told the legislative branch how to organize itself, something that I believe was well established in the constitution.

The shoe on the other foot would be if Congress passed a bill that told the Supremes they had to be drawn from a certain distribution of districts.

HOUSTON (June 28, 2006) – Despite today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold most portions of the 2004 Tom Delay redistricting plan, BLACKDEMS, one of Houston’s most respected democratic alliances, remains firm in its resolve to confront partisan attempts to disenfranchise voters in Texas. The organization is concerned that this ruling sets a harmful precedent for future efforts to weaken the minority vote.

BLACKDEMS Chairman James Robertson, Jr. issued a response to the Court’s conclusion: “When the redistricting plan was passed, it was an obvious partisan power grab that robbed Texans of equitable representation. We are disappointed but not discouraged. The Supreme Court’s opinion does not dilute the strength of people that desire positive change in Texas.”

BLACKDEMS will refocus its agenda in the coming months to aggressively educate Houstonians regarding their protections under the Voting Rights Act and the implications of voter disenfranchisement. During the 2005-2008 political season, the organization will place particular emphasis on increasing voter empowerment through its “Get Out the Vote” voter registration crusade and improving access to information and policy makers. The group will also conduct effective grassroots campaigning to produce and support political leaders that share the values of its citizenry.

Founded in February 2005, BLACKDEMS of Houston motivates citizens to utilize political action to address challenges facing their communities. The alliance is widely known for organizing a variety of community activities to engage African Americans in community activism including veteran’s day forums, HIV/AIDS fundraisers, and super neighborhood political forums. The group’s membership has swiftly grown to over 180 strong, and its news network currently reaches more than 14,000 citizens monthly.

DeLay is quoted as saying “It’s always worth it to stand up for the Constitution”.

It is hard to comprehend the breathtaking arrogance and staggering hypocrisy of these people. The fact is that Tom DeLay and the Texas Republican Party (chaired by God, we are told) waged war against the Constitution and representative democracy. DeLay felt Texas should have more Republicans in Congress, but had to rig the system in order to achieve that result rather than letting the voters make their own choices. Apparently DeLay and his supporters are inhabiting a parallel universe, where black is white, the sun rises in the west and wrong is right. Nothing else would explain the logic of his statement.